With Woodsy
doing a couple of April Fools gags this morning, I was reminded of the spoof documentary,
Alternative 3 which was intended for broadcast on April 1st, 1977,
but was actually delayed until June 20th.
For those
who don’t remember it, it was produced by Anglia Television as an edition of ‘Science
Report’, and presented by Tim Brinton, a broadcaster and former Conservative
party politician who added credibility to the programme.
The report
started with an investigation into the so-called ‘Brain Drain’ of British
scientists leaving the country and vanishing, and over the course of the
programme it was speculated that they had become involved in a joint Russian
and America project to advance the space race well beyond what the rest of the
world had been told.
A former American astronaut, Bob Grodin had seen something
strange during an Apollo landing which indicated that ‘they weren’t the first’.
It is later
revealed that there had been American and Russian Moon landings on the Dark
Side several years before the televised Apollo Missions.
An interview
with a Doctor Carl Gerstein, a lecturer in Applied Physics reveals that Alternative
3 is a plan to populate Mars, using the Moon as a launch site.
The Report
ends with a recovered video tape of an unmanned landing on Mars in 1962, which
indicates that there is alien life under the surface.
I loved is
at the time, and would have been totally fooled if not for the voice of
astronaut Bob Grodin which I instantly recognised.
I saw it at the time and loved the show, but like you Scoop, recognised Shane Rimmer as the astronaut, so wasn't fooled at all.
ReplyDeleteMish.
Yes indeed, Mish, Shane was the giveaway. Richard Marner played the lecturer but that was before his 'Allo,Allo days. A super mockumentary though, and a good one for the conspiracy theorists :)
DeleteBelieve it or not, I did meet one or two people in the 80s who thought it was an actual documentary and who wouldn't accept that it wasn't real !
ReplyDeleteA testament to the quality of Shane's acting, I think.
Mish.
That doesn't surprise me, Mish. I imagine a lot of people were quite disappointed when they found out it wasn't real.
DeleteOnce again Scoop you've educated me! I don't recall this at all. Sounds fascinating, like the Orson Welles war of the Worlds broadcast! Poignant link to Shane too. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt was done well, mixing real space footage with actors. I don't think many people were fooled but it was great fun.
DeleteGod, I remember that, could never quite figure out what the hell it was about!
ReplyDeleteI would have thought you'd have loved it,Bill. Moonbases and Mars landings in 1962, great stuff.;)
ReplyDeleteThe programme is available on DVD - Amazon charging a fiver.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad price, Gordon. It's also on YouTube too if anyone wants a preview.
Delete